Sign Speak – A Glossary of Signage Terms

Signage Terms Glossary

• Backroom (Coaching) sign

  Signage usually placed in a backroom or break room with messages for enhancing employee performance.

• Benefit sign

  A sign that points out facts about the merchandise in question, whether it has to do with construction, performance.

• Clearance area sign

  Signage that distinguishes areas containing priced-reduced products.

• Customer profile sign

  Signage that displays interesting information about a company's better known customers.

• Digital kiosk

  A free standing unit that houses a digital display and media player.

• Digital signage

  A form of electronic display showing advertising and public information in private and public areas (e.g. shopping malls, hospitals, colleges, retailers, small shops, waiting rooms, restaurants) both outdoor and indoor. Digital OOH and digital signage are sometimes used interchangeably; the first usually refers to large ad-based networks.

• Education sign

  Signage that teaches your customer about various topics (e.g. how a product works, how it was made, whether it is safe for the environment).

• Emotional sign

  Signage that forges an emotional connection with the customer.

• Employee performance sign

  Signage that communicates to employees when the employer cannot.

• Employee speak

  Verbiage in signage that conveys a message directly to your employees.

• Entertaining sign

  Signage that conveys humorous verbiage or images to the customer.

• Experience engineering

  The art of creating experiences that leave a lasting memory with the customer.

• Floor sign

  A graphic or image displayed on the floor usually at the front of the establishment or the point of sale area.

• Incentive sign

  Signage that conveys a promise of a reward to employees.

• Informational sign

  Signage used to establish a store's personality, to build and reinforce a relationship with the customer, and to help cement a position in the community.

• Mission/purpose statement sign

  Signage that states a store's core values and fundamental beliefs.

• Mobile website marketing

  Mobile websites are less complicated versions of websites that are optimized for viewing on mobile devices, like a smart phone.

• Motivational sign

  See incentive sign or backroom sign

• Point-of-purchase sign

  Signage that attracts interest, encourages message retention and drives sales; also, great at motivating additional purchases; see floor sign.

• Policy sign

  Signage that answers questions: Can this item be returned? How do I special order something? What happens if my expensive purchase doesn't work?

• Price only sign

  Signage that only displays pricing with no additional information (e.g. "$9.99").

• Price proposition sign

  Signage that only include numbers.

• Product benefit sign

  Signage that states the advantages of a product or service to the customer.

• Promotional products

  Little signs on different substrates, like pens, cups, apparel, keychains; usually includes a logo, tagline and contact information (phone number, website address).

• Pylon Sign

  A Pylon sign (also referred to as a pole sign) is a freestanding exterior sign (typically in excess of eight feet in height). It is detached from the building and is often used to display multiple signs on the same structure.

• QR code

  A machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by a smartphone or camera.

• Reminder sign

  Signage that reminds a customer of something they might need or want, like batteries for a toy.

• SMS text message marketing

  SMS stands for “short message service.” Text message marketing allows you to communicate with your customers through text messages once they opt in to the program.

• Story sign

  Signage that tells a story about a product; like where it came from, how it was developed.

• Testimonial sign

  Signage that captures the feedback of a customer promoting a store's product and/or service.

• Threshold area

  The area within the first 10-20 feet of the entrance of the store (the number of feet varies only because of the size of the store)

• Threshold sign

  Signage that appears within the first 10-15 feet of entering a store.

• Wayfinding (Directional) sign

  Signage that tells customers "the way" to what they're looking for.

• Window Graphics

  A graphic or image placed usually on a customer facing window with messaging on sales, new products, upcoming events, etc.;  used to drive traffic into the store.